3-Cell Maglite: Enough?

[Mike 139]

Once upon a time, long ago, I was having Coffee with 2 other Sergeants and the Shift Commander….Dispatch asked the Lt. to switch to the Tac channel.

She advised A State Agency Dispatcher was frantically trying to raise one of her Units….He had checked out with a Traffic Stop and after running the Tag, found the Subject had a warrant for Homicide…She, unable to get Him to answer the Radio, went to the Emergency Mutual aid channel…

I told the Lt. I would advise on arrival….After pushing the Crown Vic to the limit, 125mph, I pulled up and immediately exited with my Magcharger 50 my left hand…. The subject had his back to me and his left hand on the Troopers gun. His right hand was on the Troopers throat, and the Trooper who was facing my direction ,was trying to keep possession of his pistol, with his right hand, which was in a Border Patrol holster…He had blood running down both sides of his head and his left hand was on the subjects right wrist, trying to remove it from his throat….

I immediately swung the Maglite. against the left side of the subject’s head, causing him to let go and fall to the ground, unconscious…..

The Trooper collapsed into my arms, I got on the air ( Motorola handi-talkie portable) and requested Fire-Rescue on a 3….

The trunk of the subjects Car was open and I gently placed the Trooper on the bumper , no danger of him falling in, as it was full of Marijuana bales..

I asked Him for his handcuffs and cuffed the prisoner behind his back….

I asked the Trooper what happened…He advised he stopped the subject for speeding, and as he approached the driver, noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from the Car….He asked the Subject to open the trunk, and when he did,, The Trooper stuck his head in and the Subject slammed the trunk lid down, splitting his head open, He than grabbed the Troopers gun, and while fighting for possession, it discharged, striking the subject in the left thigh…

Fire-Rescue arrived and ran over to the subject, still unconscious…I said No, You take care of this Officer first…. As they were administrating care, a second Fire-Rescue pulled up to take care of the prisoner..

A few minutes later, an unmarked State Unit pulled up and a very sleepy looking Lt. Asked me what happened….I gave him a very brief rundown and told him they were very lucky they did not have a dead trooper…I told him, “ it’s all yours, sunshine” and left..

Primary impact weapon was the PR-24 with side handle and a 40 hr. In- service course, same with the Asp…. The Flashlight is considered a weapon of opportunity, and yes it is…The Magcharger 50 is 12.5 inches long and had a D cell 5 battery pack, puts out 50,000 candlepower..Good Flashlight…

 

[BigBoku]

I still have my old issued PR24, but the ASP is a great upgrade. You can have it in your belt as you ride in the car. More than once mine was left in the little loop next to the seatbelt buckle. I once used my old 3 D Maglite to thump a guy who ran on a car stop and then reached when I caught him. Down he went. Turned out he was a famous rapper. I won’t say who but if I did many here would know him. He was cool about it after but once I found out who he was I was paranoid I was gonna get jammed up. It wasn’t the hitting that worried me. He deserved it since he ran and then reached into his inside pocket. But the NYPD does not allow using a “non approved impact weapon” unless you can articulate a real reason, and leaving your “approved impact weapon” in the car wasn’t a real reason. Thankfully, he never pursued it. He died about 8 years later of a drug overdose. No loss to society.

Hey KB, From his MO as you described it sounds like someone I and many who worked the Bronx (44) Manhattan North(28/32) had dealings such as yours with, could it be William Drayton aka Flava Flav.

If you would have said a boxer I would have said Mitch Green who you probably remember also, he was always fun to deal with when he would smoke crack after slapping around his GF.

 

[kbm6893]

Hey KB, From his MO as you described it sounds like someone I and many who worked the Bronx (44) Manhattan North(28/32) had dealings such as yours with, could it be William Drayton aka Flava Flav.

If you would have said a boxer I would have said Mitch Green who you probably remember also, he was always fun to deal with when he would smoke crack after slapping around his GF.

Nope. It was Ol Dirty Basta*d, AKA Russel Jones. He once walked into Interfaith Hospital with a gunshot wound and left without treatment.

 

[BigBoku]

Nope. It was Ol Dirty Basta*d, AKA Russel Jones. He once walked into Interfaith Hospital with a gunshot wound and left without treatment.

Ah yes, I know who he is but never came across him. In the confines I mentioned above there were many as you know. This is the same years that Flava Flav had a habit of shooting at his neighbors.

I apologize for hijacking the thread so I will get it back on track, as KBM said the maglites were unauthorized for us but, to answer the OPs question, the 3 cell D maglite in my street experiences is plenty and then some as that is exactly what I carried.

Stay safe!

 

[Glenn R. McMannly]

Thank you so much for your stories and your service, fellas. Love to hear these.

I have been performing a run test on my maglite 3 cell D with LED bulb upgrade. It is quite bright, fat brighter than the factory incandescent bulb, and I’ve let the light stay on for multiple hours over 3 days with no noticeable dimming occurring. I must have at LEAST 12 hours of runtime on it so far.

My glass breaker cap arrives tomorrow in the mail. Can’t wait to add it.

 

[Xfuzz]

Flashlight story.....

1976 maybe 77'
Beer joint fight at Paul's Icehouse on Telephone Road.
I am the first on the scene.. one man unit.
Older dude about 6'5" and 260 tearing the place apart.
Already had the owner and a couple customers on the ground.

I rush him and get him on the ground. He gets on his feet before I do
and as I'm gettin up he grabs me a flings me over the pool table.

Gettin ready for round two when back up arrives.
A rookie with one of the new Kel-lights comes up from
behind and strokes this dude HARD across the head.
He stops for a second and asked....

"Who took my picture"....

Took 3 of us to get him back on the ground and end the fight.

 

[rosewood]

Nope. It was Ol Dirty Basta*d, AKA Russel Jones. He once walked into Interfaith Hospital with a gunshot wound and left without treatment.

That was my guess. I didn't realize he had died until this post came up and I started investigating.

 

[Glenn R. McMannly]

3 D Maglite build is done:

The crenellated bezel, glass lens with o-ring, LED bulb upgrade (spare bulb also in base) and Bust a Cap glass breaker on the end are all very cool. Wicked little light. I really like it and am putting it in my Tacoma.

 

[Bald1]

Glenn, maglites are big in the Tacoma community. They make several different D cell mounts for the Tacoma…… My 2 new ones will be here any day. I was happy to see all the add ons come in silver. That’s the color of my new lights.

 

[Glenn R. McMannly]

Glenn, maglites are big in the Tacoma community. They make several different D cell mounts for the Tacoma…… My 2 new ones will be here any day. I was happy to see all the add ons come in silver. That’s the color of my new lights.

Wow, I didn’t know that. Do you have any recommendations on mounts? I’d love one. I have a 2023 3rd Gen Tacoma.

 

[Bald1]

Can’t recommend one ( I have an F250) but a bunch pop up if u google it.

 

[Sgt. Buzzard]

Went on the job in '73 hired under the Safe Streets Act. That meant the Feds paid for all our equipment, including a 3 D cell Kel- Lite and a jack. Walked a beat in the ghetto pulling call boxes half a mile apart.

What nobody has mentioned here was the radios back then. Motorola's the size of a quart thermos. No one had clips to attach them to gun belts and they were heavier than any bull barrel model 10. So you carried it in your hand. A whole lot more felony arrests were made with the assistance of the radio in your hand than the flashlight or jack. The walking guys broke a lot of radios. A lot of times none were available so it was call box only.

When I finally went into a car I bought a 5 C cell a Kel-Lite that fit into the baton loop and replaced the blackjack with a sap because it was more comfortable to sit on for eight hours. As impact weapons go I have to say the sap was the one that saved my life under some extreme duress.

To the very few here that seem to think the use of a baton, flashlight, jack or radio is mean or somehow unseemly, work a sector car for a summer in the inner city, because you don't know squat.

 

[majick47]

Sgt. Buzzard agree you had to be prepared with something substantial in your hand like a flashlight or radio since the opposition didn't much believe in fair fights.

 

[wood714]

You can turn your Maglight into a suppressor too. I've seen these kits sold at gun shows in the past.

Make sure to have a tax stamp before you try try one!

"D" Sized Coupled Flashlight Tube 1" Sections

 

[Buford57]

"Having become separated from the issue baton R/O employed a flashlight in the manner prescribed for the baton and subdued Suspect.". That, by the way, did not include strikes to the head, but did include the solar plexus, joints and long bones.

Investigating an open warehouse door at 3AM was not a circumstance where a nightstick swinging from your belt was a good idea, but a quality flashlight in your support hand was. On more than one occasion the fact that on swings and graves there was always a 3 or 4 cell Kelite, Maglite or B-lite on my belt got me back to my wife in roughly the same shape I'd left her. I apologize to no one for that.

There's always some armchair quack who will scream brutality if the officer's injuries don't exceed the suspect's. If I ever meet one who has been there and still thinks there's nothing between harsh words and a mag dump, their choice of beverage is on me.

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

Maglites…who they can’t blind they can bludgeon.

 

[cmj8591]

I've posted this before so bear with me if you've seen it. If you carried one of these, you truly worked during the golden days of law enforcement.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

I always kind of wondered the value of a heavy barrel model 10 with fixed sights. It isn't exactly going to be used for bullseye shooting with fixed sights, but using it as a bludgeon makes a lot of sense.

My Model 10 .357 Magnum using .38 Specials got me my only 250 out of 250 on the Texas CHL shooting test so it's no slouch in the bullseye department.

And that heavy barrel will hurtcha!!!

 

[Faulkner]

As a flashlight junkie I chunked all my big Mag Lights about 15 years ago. They're too big and bulky to carry with you most of the time. Modern LED lights from Streamlight and Phenix are much brighter, more durable, last longer, and I can carry one pretty much all the time day or night.

For an impact weapon, I carry an ASP..

 

[Bald1]

Faulkner, a true flashlight junkie would have at least a couple old school flashlights. Same reason S&W junkies should all have at least one 5 screw.